Netz was born January 2, 1968, to Israeli author and Yoel Netz, an entrepreneur and translator of Russian classics. From 1983 to 1992, Netz studied at the Tel Aviv University, obtaining a B.A. in Ancient History and an M.A. in History and the Philosophy of Science; from 1993 to 1995 studied classics at Christ College, Cambridge University, where he obtained his doctorate in 1995. From 1996 to 1999 Netz worked as a post-doctoral research fellow at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and concurrently in 1998 and 1999 worked as a post-doctoral fellow at MIT. In the fall of 1999 he took a position as an assistant professor in the Stanford University Department of Classics, where he has continued to teach and publish today. Netz's major research interest include the wider issues of the history of cognitive practices; for example the history of the book, visual culture, literacy and numeracy. He is the author of a number of works in field, including volumes I and II of The Archimedes Palimpsest. He also co-authored The Archimedes Codex with William Noel on the same subject matter, but oriented towards a public audience. It received the Neumann Prize as well as several works published by the Cambridge University Press, including The Shaping of Deduction in Greek Mathematics: a Study in Cognitive History, The Transformation of Early Mediterranean Mathematics: From Problems to Equations, and Ludic Proof: Greek Mathematics and the Alexandrian Aesthetic. Netz has also appeared as a subject matter expert on PBS's Nova concerning ancient mathematics. In addition to his work on the history of mathematics, Netz has published some Hebrew poetry, including "Adayin Bahuc" in 1999.
Authored and co-authored works
The Shaping of Deduction in Greek Mathematics: A Study in Cognitive History, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999,.
The Works of Archimedes: Translation and Commentary, Vol. I: The Two Books "On The Sphere and the Cylinder", Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004 and 2009.
The Transformation of Mathematics in the Early Mediterranean World: from Problems to Equations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Ludic Proof: Greek Mathematics and the Alexandrian Aesthetic, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009,.
Editor, with William Noel, Natalie Tchernetska, and Nigel Wilson, The Archimedes Palimpsest Vol. I: Catalogue and Commentary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011,.
Editor, with William Noel et al., The Archimedes Palimpsest Vol. II: Facsimile and Transcription, Cambridge University Press, 2011,.
The Works of Archimedes: Translation and Commentary, Vol. 2: "On Spirals", Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017,.
